Judge living before Israel's Monarchy
Jephthah
A mighty man of valor from Gilead, the son of a prostitute, who was driven out by his half-brothers and lived in the land of Tob with a band of outlaws (Judges 11:1–3). When Ammon attacked Israel, the elders of Gilead came back to ask him to lead them (Judges 11:4–11). Before the battle he vowed that whatever came out of his house to meet him would be Yahweh’s and be offered as a burnt offering (Judges 11:30–31). Yahweh gave him victory, and his only child, his daughter, came out first with tambourines and dances. He grieved, but held to his vow; the text says only that he “did with her according to his vow which he had vowed,” and that she was a virgin (Judges 11:34–39). Readers have long disagreed whether he sacrificed her or gave her to lifelong service. He is named among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11:32.
Family
- Father
- Gilead